Halving the usage of rigid-soled postoperative shoes does not affect outcomes in forefoot reconstruction surgery

Postoperative shoes are commonly used after forefoot surgery. This study's aim was to demonstrate that reducing rigid-soled shoe time to 3 weeks neither compromises functional outcomes nor does it produce complications.

Prospective cohort study: 6 weeks versus 3 weeks of rigid postoperative shoe (100 and 96 patients respectively), after forefoot surgery with stable osteotomies. Manchester-Oxford Foot Questionnaire (MOXFQ) and pain Visual Analog Scale (VAS) were studied preoperative and one year postoperative. Radiological angles were also assessed after removing the rigid shoe and at 6 months.

The MOXFQ index and pain VAS depicted similar results in each group (group A: 29.8 and 25.7; group B: 32.7 and 23.7) with no differences between them (p = .43 Vs. p = .58). Moreover, no differences were reported in their differential angles (HV differential-angle p = .44, IM differential-angle p = .18) or in their complication rate.

In forefoot surgery with stable osteotomies, shortening the postoperative shoe time to 3 weeks, neither impairs clinical results nor the initial correction angle.